The interior of motor vehicles, such as, for example, sport utility vehicles and station wagons, have trended toward improved functionality while not negatively affecting the overall mass and aesthetics of the vehicle. The progression of motor vehicles, such as, for example, sport utilities and station wagons, have included a desire to make full use of available space for storage. One such example is the inclusion of additional storage compartments located in the lower surface of a sport utility vehicle or station wagon. These storage compartments are concealed by a load floor, which must provide structural integrity to support the mass of heavy objects being transported in the rear of the vehicle on top of the load floor.
In the automotive industry, in addition to the aforementioned load floor, it has become known to use interior trim components such as interior door panels, dashboards, and the like having a decorative covering including two different cover materials on the same trim component. Such interior trim component having a two-part cover material are desired by consumers, for example to achieve a “two-tone effect” in which two different cover materials have different colors, or a high value or “luxury effect” in which each of the two different cover materials presents different types of materials such as a decorative cover film and a decorative cloth, or in which the different cover materials have different degrees of “soft touch” padding or the like.
In order to make such vehicle trim components having two-part cover materials, it has conventionally been the practice to splice together the two different cover materials before applying the spliced cover sheet onto a substrate of the interior trim component. The splicing of the two different cover materials has conventionally been carried out by thermal welding, adhesive bonding, or stitching. After the two different cover materials have been spliced together, it is generally necessary to hide or cover the splice line in order to hide the stitching or any adhesive overspill or the like. This is conventionally achieved by applying a trim strip, such as a strip of plastic, chrome, wood or the like, over the splice line on the finished interior trim component.
Alternatively, it has been attempted to press the splice line into a groove provided in the substrate in order to hide the splice line in this manner.
The above described conventional practices and the resulting interior trim component having a two-part cover material suffer many disadvantages, including the following. The preliminary process of splicing together the two different cover materials involves extra processing and handling steps, which translates into increased costs and a greater likelihood of defective parts leading to a higher reject rate. Furthermore, the application of the trim strip to hide the splice line on the finished door panel, dashboard or the like requires extra steps and extra materials, which again lead to higher costs and higher defect rates.
Alluding to the above, the aforementioned load floors have been used when provide a more elegant appearance. Previous attempts to provide such a functional/aesthetically pleasing load floor have resulted in a peripheral edge that is unfinished and visibly unattractive. Occasionally, an additional covering is provided and completely conceals the load floor from the passenger compartment. Therefore, it would be desirable to produce a lightweight, functional load floor at a low cost having a finished peripheral surface that is aesthetically pleasing. One preferred method of providing a peripheral surface having an aesthetically pleasing appearance requires that a first fabric or decorative material and a second fabric or functional material be mated at the periphery where the perimeter edge of each of the materials is concealed in a slot. This presents various technical difficulties that have resulted in costly manufacturing processes to provide the desired aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge.
One such example is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,002 to Saso teaching a partition plate for an automotive vehicle, in particular for a luggage compartment of the automotive vehicle, wherein the partition plate is detachable from the automotive vehicle and serves as a table of a reversible type in the outdoors. The partition plate includes a board presenting opposite surface with one surface covered with a carpet. The peripheral section of the carpet extends to a side peripheral surface of the board and is covered with a garnish secured on the other surface of the board. A costly garnish molding is applied over the peripheral edge of the carpet.
Various other attempts have been made to provide an aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge to other components such as, for example, table top pads. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,701 to Berger teaches a panel having a core defining a slot. The core is covered by a fabric where adhesive is used to retain peripheral edges of the fabric covering the core within the slot. The application of adhesive in the slot to retain the fabric is known to be a difficult manufacturing process that is proven not viable due to the propensity of the adhesive to be spread over the visible surface of the table pad. Furthermore, forming a slot in a core material is known to require costly molding tools having sliding components, particularly for molded cores. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,701 to Berger, the slot is cut into the core with a common table saw, which is not practicable when manufacturing high production volumes. Alluding to the above, other additional methods and designs for tucking covering materials are currently used in the automotive industry. Such methods and designs, disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,956 to Kiss; U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,508 to Oda; U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,506 to Spengler; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,500 to Spengler.
But even with the aforementioned methods and designs, to the extent it is effective, there is always need for improvements in an apparatus for forming improved interior components, such as, for example a load floor for an automotive vehicle having the functional flexibility of a decorative surface and a functional surface while providing an aesthetically pleasing peripheral edge at a low cost.